Willow's Storm
by Rachel Ravenfeather
Summary: "The time of the Storm will come."  Seasons after the original Clans ended, Willow is chosen by StarClan to lead a new Clan.  But will she succeed?
1. Voices

**Author's Note: I finally wanted to upload a fanfic here. I don't know if this will be any good. It's set after ThunderClan, ShadowClan, RiverClan, and WindClan have disappeared and in an entirely new territory. It centered mainly around Willow, a one-eyed she-cat, who is chosen by StarClan to create a Clan. Willow will face many challenges, from establishing a new warrior code to finding cats for her Clan. It's rated T. But it probably won't be that bad. Anyways, I hope you enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Warriors! Erin Hunter does. I do, however own my original characters such as Willow. **

Chapter 1: Voices

Lightning crackled dangerously overhead.

The wind howled and tore at the mighty oaks and clinging bushes. Rain fell from the sky in sheets, hitting the pavement and splashing off. And downhill did the water run, racing to the once gentle stream that was now a torrent of water.

Out of nowhere, a lithe she-cat crashed through the undergrowth and onto the Thunderpath where the Twoleg's monsters were seen to prowl. The color of the Thunderpath complimented the depressing onslaught of falling water. The gray tabby she-cat blended in perfectly with this backdrop. But silently she cursed the yowling wind, the hammering rain, and malicious lightning.

And she knew she was a pitiful sight to behold. Rainwater and mud plastered her fur to her skin. It made her appear thinner than she was, and she definitely was already underweight. Her ears were tattered from long forgotten battles. Then there was a single empty space where an eye was designed to be...

There was a sort of hollowness inside of her. Ever since she had been viciously attacked by a ravenous fox and lost that irreplaceable right eye. It flawed her appearance. She could barely stand to look at herself in a pool of calm water now for fear of what she might see. And she was ashamed of that.

Lost in thoughts, she failed to notice the water puddle until it was too late. She tripped over a pebble, meowing in shock as she rolled over into the water. Her legs flailed in the air until she stopped moving. Then, she hastily leaped back. She swiftly tried to shake the water droplets from her pelt and gave her fur a few licks.

Gross! She was not expecting to be more soaked than she already had been. Mentally, she blamed it on her clumsiness and horrible balance. What's worse, though, she concluded was that she probably stunk worse than a wet dog.

Impatiently, she strolled as casually as possible under the shelter of an oak but found it offered no refuge from the rain. What did it matter though? She was already extremely soaked from whiskers to tail tip. Growling, she tipped her head to the sky.

Did this storm have an end?

_"Sometimes,"_ a voice sounded to her right, her blind side. She whirled around to face the cat, but there wasn't anything there. Her fur flattened. There was no scent of any stranger. Finally, her muscles relaxed, and she found herself grooming again. But it didn't help. She shivered. The current coldness of the atmosphere and the condition of her pelt did nothing to help her body temperature. And she was freezing!

The rain came to a sudden stop. Although thunder did still rumble threateningly in the background and lightning occasionally lit up the sky. Inwardly, the she-cat thanked whoever was looking out for her.

_"Because we do listen, Willow."_

It was that voice again!

Willow's fur stood on end. She screeched, turning in the direction of the voice. A shadow in the corner of her eye caught her attention. She scanned the forest for the feline shape but found none. "Who are you?" Willow hissed.

There was stillness in the air that lingered several heartbeats. Willow gritted her teeth in exasperation. "Answer me!" She yelled. "Who are you?" A light wind chilled her.

Miraculously, the clouds parted and a sunbeam drifted down to illuminate Willow's form. She squinted in the sudden light, her eyes widening in wonder. She uncoiled from her defensive posture, sitting up straight. "W-who are you?" Nervously, she gave her shoulder a lick. A purr of amusement buzzed around Willow, yet she couldn't distinguish the source. A little while away, she heard the bubbling of the stream, but that wasn't it. Willow determined by now she was either crazy or this was some act of an unknown force.

The wheels of her brain twirled and she was caught unaware as the voice spoke again, _"Find us, Willow,"_ it told her. _"Follow the stream. We abide in the cave by the pines."_

An abrupt chill shot through Willow as the presence left her. A whirlpool of leaves danced around in the gloomy light. The gray she-cat inhaled a shaky breath.

"Follow the stream-"she repeated, strolling down the hill in the direction of the said landmark.


	2. The Medicine Cat

Chapter 2: The Medicine Cat

The scent of live prey caught Willow's attention.

There were grasses here that engulfed Willow's entire body. She moved through them with slight difficulty, plowing the golden grass blades aside.

She sniffed at the air, mouse scent flooded her senses. Her tail twitched impatiently, ready to begin her hunt.

Willow moved upwind from her choice mouse. She tilted her head somewhat to the left to use her one good eye. She fell into a hunter's crouch though it was unlikely a mouse would see her in this tall grass before she saw him. She stalked forward, one step at a time.

And the mouse was in her sights!

Willow leaped forward with a sudden cry. She landed on the mouse's tail and it squeaked in fright. Swift as lightning, she broke its neck with a nip.

She purred in contentment and bent down to eat her caught meal.

Halfway through, she caught a trace of something over the mousey scent of her kill. She sat upright and with a wide eye, looked around bewildered. "Rats," she hissed under her breath.

She could hear their squeals now. The grass rustled as they moved through them. And the noise kept getting closer and closer.

Willow lurched forward and dashed through the grass. It scratched at her pelt and her good eye. She was blinded by tears once she reached a clearing. But the stream was in sight!

A cool breeze blew past Willow suddenly, bringing oak leaves from the forest that was a while away. The leaves glided through the air in the direction the stream was running. Willow slowed and considered chasing after them, but finally decided on the stream.

She rushed to the stream, full speed… and halted… What was she thinking? Leaping into the water was stupid and pointless. If anything, she'd drowned.

_Jump, Willow. We won't let you die…_

There was that voice again. But she didn't trust it! She couldn't trust it! She'd learned that much from her time alone.

The rats were gaining speed behind her, and she found it inevitable that she would have to battle them by herself. In a quick movement, she was racing downstream, toward a goal, rocks in the distance.

_EEEEKKKK! _

A large, black rat all of a sudden jumped from the grassland and landed on Willow's side. With a yowl of fright, she struggled against the rodent that was currently clawing and biting at her.

More rats emerged from the grasses. Willow shrieked in pain and rage. She sideswiped a rat with unsheathed claws. It fell back with a squeak, but glaring at Willow with beady eyes; it crawled back to its feet and plunged into the fray.

She killed a rat then with a bite to its neck, breaking the spine. But the rats were inflicting more damage to Willow than she was to them. They squealed out there apparent victory cheerfully.

Willow yowled again, rolling onto her back, trying to dislodge the rats. She barely registered the large, brown tabby tom that came to her aid.

With a combined effort, they killed or chased off the remaining rats and he crouched beside Willow to examine her wounds. She was bleeding from scratches and bites and a gash ran across her side. "Hey, are you okay?" He asked. She looked dazedly into his hazel eyes.

Dizzy from blood loss and sudden realization that the tom beside her was trying to help, she only stared at him in puzzlement before her vision went black and she collapsed, falling into the stream. And the stream, heavy with water from the violent rains an afternoon before, carried poor Willow downstream swiftly.

The tom let out a curse and bounded into the rushing water after Willow. But he was unsuccessful finding her.

He frowned deeply as he pulled himself out of the freezing water. Now his pelt was soaked thoroughly and hadn't rescued that she-cat he had intended to save.

Honestly, he hoped she survived.

* * *

><p><em>Welcome...<em>

Willow awoke with a jolt.

She flinched at the cool touch of a poultice being pressed to her skin and a sudden stinging sensation.

She hopped to her feet and leaned over to vomit on the dirt floor of the cave. Coughing with a fresh bout of tears, she turned and looked at her savior.

The cat wasn't the tom that had saved her from the rats. This was a she-cat. She was white with patches of ginger covering her back. She grinned. "Hey, I'm Honey! Nice to meet you!" She meowed in friendliness. "I see you came. They said you would, but…" She looked away, embarrassed. "…I had my doubts. "

Willow contemplated her current situation. Honey seemed to be too kind to be a threat. But Willow found herself glaring at the poultices lying in dried leaves that Honey had begun to smother on some of her wounds.

Honey purred in amusement. "That's my special medicine made from burdock root. Don't worry it's not poison. It helps rat bites…" She paused, looking Willow up and down. "…Which I assume those are." Then, as an afterthought, she added, "And because you stink like a wet rat."

Great, she was a wet rat now, not a mangy dog. Willow grimaced and gave her shoulder a self-conscious lick. "I'm-"

"Willow!" Honey exclaimed, startling a wide-eyed Willow. The gray tabby began to open her mouth to say something, but Honey added, "Oh, that's weird isn't it." She laughed nervously. "I'm not supposed to tell anyone this-cause they would think I was crazy- but he voices of StarClan told me."

"'The voices of Starclan?'" Willow repeated curiously. "What are they?" She didn't think Honey was crazy, but only because she had been hearing previously unexplainable voices herself.

"They say a Clan once lived over the mountains… you know the mountains, right?" Willow nodded. "Okay, well a Clan lived there, they moved, eventually they died out. But this StarClan, that's them. They told me 'The time of the Storm will come.'" She stopped her excessive explanation and asked the unresponsive Willow, "Weird, right? Then, they told me all this stuff about herbs and things. And told me to come here where there's this pool. And they like seriously had this thing called Moonpool where… medicine cats, I think, came to talk to them. But this isn't their Moonpool. It's supposed to be our own, the new Clan-as they put it- and, yeah, I'm calling it the Star Cave."

"Hm…" Willow mewed thoughtfully. "Maybe they think they could use us, but why us?"

"I know I have a gift for healing," Honey meowed proudly. She dipped her paw in the burdock root poultice. "This will sting." She dabbed it at Willow's wounds while Willow winced. "And they wouldn't bring you here if you weren't good for anything."

"How would they know anything about us?" Willow asked and gave her unruly, damp fur a few licks, avoiding the burdock poultice the best she could.

Honey shrugged. "Probably because they have been watching us. I sense their presence in the wind, the Star Cave, the stars, in every puddle of water. They're everywhere. They've been observing us for a very long time now."

Willow froze from her grooming. "Have they now? You said something about a Star Cave, could you show me where that is?"

**A/N****: Another chapter! Yeah, next we get to see the Star Cave and then the story will really pick up. Remember to review! **


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